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CoachSteve

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  1. I know what you mean Jeff. I do that with the older team I coach but I am also taking the HC job with my son's team which is 5,6,7 this year. I won't even try techniques at that level. The main reason we use that system at the older level is to prep them for it for HS. THe HS uses that system. Of course, they have players for 4 years and that gives them the ability to use the technique numbering for calling certain plays. We use it just as a common language instead of outside shade, nose up, and inside shade. Both work just fine but we chose this as one of the areas we can teach in prep for HS as the HS has been very, very good to us. We figure the more we leverage common terms with the HS, the easier it will be for them in HS. Better for the kids, better for the HS. In return, we get all kinds of support from the HS.
  2. I didn't even know the claymores moved. I guess I should pay more attention. Of course, with two youth teams of my own (yes, two) and an avid college and NFL fan, I don't get much time. For some funny reason, the family wants to use the remaining time. anyway, good luck.
  3. Gather up some of your fellow teachers at other schools - the ones you are tryign to persuade to start a football club. Take them to the local pub and buy them a few pints. When they have a few in the tank, explain to them how football is actually an evolution from 'soccer'. In the beggining, there was 'soccer'. One day in a small town near you some yahoo got mad and picked up the ball and ran it in for a goal. Rugby was born. Rugby ultimately gave birth to american football (I think it was at princeton or harvard - maybe yale; buy me a few pints and I might remember that bit of trivia). So, American Football is just a evolution of soccer. Then convince them as modern men that they should evolve as well. Repeat this process for several straight nights until they agree. Just kidding, just kidding. Seriously, I don't have a clue. You gotta find a team to play against. It may require you to travel around a bit if schools from further away have a team. But yes, you have a real stickler of a problem. Maybe you could ring up the Scottish Claymores in the ENFL and see if they can help in some way. Maybe they players could stop by your practice and play a quick round of tag football. The NFL is really keen on trying to expand football to the global marketplace; I doubt they would want to miss out on a chance like this to further the sport. By the way, I applaud what you are trying to accomplish. Good Luck!!!
  4. just another idea that we use on techniques......we simply number techniques 1,2,3 from left to right - the numbers are the same for each player. So, we get: -T----G---C----G---T----Y 123-123-123-123-123-123 on 1, the DL lines up on the left shoulder, a 2 is head up, and 3 is right shoulder. This is easy enough for kids to learn and it gives a common language for talking with your defensive line. Finally, it plants the seed of numbering defensive techniques for those kids who do go on to play at higher levels.
  5. We do it pretty much the same way Slogar1 described. Make the parents sign a contract with the costs at the begining of the season. It works well.
  6. Well, that did not take long - the big issue with this rule set - how does it apply to the Center since "inside" and "outisde" relate to him. --X-----X G----C---- G ---1-----2 You are asking what happens when going to the 2 hole. The RG's first rule is take the man to the 'inside' so he should get the man sitting in the 2 hole. The LG should take the man to the inside which is the guy in the 1 gap. This leaves your Center free. Chances are, the MLB is Over the Center: ------M --X-----X G----C---- G ---1-----2 So, I have my center aim for the backer - the "over" man. The problem is, of course, the rule breaks down a bit here because which is "inside" and "outside" for C as he is point zero so to speak. I admit, this is not a perfect rule set which is one reason why we are moving away from it. I just have to convince my OL Coach that the kids can indeed learn a better blocking scheme. We also supplament this scheme with traps. Base blocking is generally consider one-on-one straight ahead blocking which is what we are doing here. The rules just tell them who to pick as their man. The players must learn to base block because sooner or later, they will end up in a one on one situation. However, I personally loathe base blocking and prefer angles (block down, traps, SAB, zone). the reason is that we rarely get bigger kids; we are almost always outweighted.
  7. Coach, There are lots of different systems but they all tend to boil down to a simple set of rules the linemen can follow to determine their blocking assignment. For example, one that I have taught in the past is "Inside, Over, Out". This is related to the hole the RB is going to. The OLmen's first responsibility is the guy inside the gap (where inside is the Center side of the play hole. If there is nobody inside the hole, he looks for someone over the hole (an LB) and then someone outside (away from center) the hole. Others teach this same set of rules but in a different order. There are other blocking schemes such as trap blocking or SAB blocking. BTW - Coach Gregory who drops in here is the board expert on SAB/Wedge blocking. You should visit his website (http://www.gregorydoublewing.homestead.com) sometime. Anyway, you can do a search on SAB blocking on Yahoo or google - I think there is some more on it on YCoach somewhere as well. In the end, the bottom line is you need to come to a set of rules that the kids can easily remember that help them find their assignments. On the number of blocking schemes you can run - in part, that will be up to the atheletes you get. I coach older kids and I think we have a lot of blocking schemes - we run up to 4 including pass blocking. That is a lot of blocking schemes to teach, drill, and perfect. Plus, the more you run, the greater the chance of a blown assignment on game day. At the age group you are coaching, I would probably start with base blocking and pass blocking and then add one of the angle or pulling blocking schemes and drill those to perfection. If they can do those and can handle another, add it but do so slowly. The most important thing is quality of execution over quantity of blocking schemes.
  8. In any system that you are going to block down to the inside of the playside, yes, you will likely leave a DE or OLB free. You could consider supplamenting this with a pulling guard from the backside or you can have a lead blocker in the backfield (i.e. your full back). Of course, you may decide to use a different blocking scheme for outside runs and this one for inside runs. All blocking schemes come down to a numbers game - you can have up to 7 guys on the LOS (two TE set). If tehy put 8 guys in the box then mathmatically someone is unblocked. If you count your FB as a blocker, you even the odds.
  9. Actually, I think the OL will have to know much more than the direction of the run or the hole number. What I mean by understanding the play is that to determine which threat is what priority also requires them to know what the FB's blocking assignment is, if an SE or Flanker has any blocking responsibility, etc. Further, what do you do if the defensive front shifts during or after the threats are called out? For example, the SS suddenly runs up to the LOS just before the snap? Will that require you to change your threat assesment? Maybe blitzing is against the rules in your league at your age group so that might no matter. Like I said, I have never coached this type of scheme so I 'm just throwing out ideas and stuff to munch on.
  10. I have seen this but I don't coach it and therefore not overly familiar with it. I think it is a bit much for the kids to learn at that age. I could be wrong but it seems to put a whole lot of recognition of defenses and understanding of o plays on the linemen. Perhaps with limited o-plays it is possible but I think it will ultimately limit what they can effectively learn and consistantly execute unless you can break it down to a simple set of rules. For example, if you can say that on all run plays to the right against an even defense an uncovered G will do XYZ. I would keep it simple and go by odd or even front more so than 5-3, 5-2, 4-4, 6-2, 4-3, GAM, etc, etc, etc.
  11. There are some out there, but I have never used them as they cost in the 100's. I use Visio since I have a liscense but that is close to 250 or 300 as well to buy new. Nothing really robust under 100 that I am aware of.
  12. I have been away for a while due to work and family and holidays - my time the last 2 months has not been my own. I'm sure all are in that boat. Anyway, I started coming back here to see if anything was going on and I see a few new members and I just wanted to say Welcome Aboard!
  13. To be blunt, you should focus on your own performance and helping your peers by encouraging them to participate fully in the off season program. No matter how well you played in the past, I seriously doubt you have achieved your full potential as a player - you are what, 14? 15? 16? There are NFL veterans who have yet to reach their full potential; I doubt you have achieved yours. Your focus should be upon unlocking your full potential as a player and not trying to rewrite your Coaching Staff's Program. By the way, it is a 4 year Program and not just a bunch of X's and O's in a playbook - coaches see that; players rarely do. Anyone can draw plays; not everyone can administer a four year HS Football Program. Further, maybe you should not worry so much about Freshman verses Sophmores verses Juniors verses Seniors - perhaps you should view everyone as part of the same team. Don't get me wrong, I applaud your internal fire and desire and inititive. I just think it is misplaced. Maybe you are thinking of becoming a Coach as your future profession - if so, excellent! And, if so, the best thing you can do now is focus on learning as much about the game as a player as you can and making sure your grades are as strong as they can be. It does sound like you have some years experience playing the sport. Do your peers? Perhaps the limited number of running plays has to do with it being a Freshman team. Take a look at the Varsity - do they have more running plays? It is possible you are being built up over three or four years rather than having it all at once. Successful Programs are built in this way. It is far better to have 4 running plays that you execute well than 20 running plays that you run to anything less than perfect. I would like to offer you a strong warning - I can almost guarantee you that if you walk into your Coaching Staff's office with a completely rewritten playbook and a chip on your shoulder, that it will take you a very long time to get out of their doghouse. A better approach might be to schedule some time with your HC, go in with a positive attitude and explain to him that you are interested in learning more about how plays and systems are put together. See if your coach is willing to explain some of the X's and O's to you of your existing playbook. Go in with a positive and open mind and you might just learn something and build a much stronger relationship with your HC about your desire to learn and excel. Go in with a chip on your shoulder and tell them the "suck" may just get you cut. Now, all that said....to answer your question - yes, there is a difference between a cadence and an audible. A cadence is the call (down, set, hut, hut) by the QB that defines when things like Motions, shifts, and the snap of the ball will occur. An audible is given to a QB and team (provided they can handle it) to change the play at the Line of Scrimmage based upon what he sees the defense doing. The Audible is a verbal code system so you can really use whatever words make you happy. If you want to make it city names or colors or numbers or neighbor's pet poodle's name, then go for it. What is important is the team knows what the code words are and they can relate it to the change they represent.
  14. We had a tough year - 3&6 but where in all but 2 games. We had a couple of very tough losses. Our issue this year was speed - pure and simple - speed. We didn't have any; not a lick. If we had had our RB from last year, we would have been 7-2. Speed kills; so does lack of speed. We did what we could and the kids played hard - they never quit - and we had a great time.
  15. End of year close at work, thanksgiving, two kids birthdays, christmas, and new years......see what I miss while I was out! Sheesh. I didn't even know things were on the fritz. Glad to know it got fixed.
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